Missteps
by RainySpade
Summary: When Roy gets an uneasy feeling about the teams upcoming assignment he goes to see Kaldur in an effort to give him the back up he needs, but will it be enough to stop the Atlantean from destroying the team he helped create?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice.

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><p><strong>Missteps <strong>by RainySpade

**Chapter One**

It had been a few months since Roy and Kaldur had gotten the chance to work together; it hadn't been since Lex Luthor had "negotiated" the peace talks for Rhelasia. Ever since then Roy had gotten the crazy idea that he and Kaldur would make a really good team. The only issue was that no matter what he would say to the young Atlantean, Roy knew that Kaldur would turn him down to fulfill his responsibilities to the Justice League and their mini-mes before he would ever agree to leave the team. Roy knew better than to think that for an instant that the Justice League would keep Kaldur as leader of the Justice's Junior Squad.

Everyone with eyes could see that The Justice League was just waiting for Dick to gain the necessary experience to take over as leader. There was no doubt that one day the boy wonder would be leader but it should be just that, the League should wait until he had the ability to lead. Kaldur currently had his vote for best leader and nothing had changed his mind about that, including Kaldur's decision to not inform the team that there was a mole planted among them. Last he had heard there was an uproar in the cave about it and the distrust that Kaldur had for the team. The fact that there had been an issue about it proved that Kaldur was the best leader they could have at the moment.

Roy was currently on his way to the cave for a social visit. He wanted to see how his friend was doing and to see what the team was up to. The Security System's voice rang through the mountain as he entered. "B06. Red Arrow." He wished that they would freaking drop that B already. That was how the security system designated between the real members and the sidekicks. Well considering that he still wasn't really a member they could give him at least a different letter before his number.

Roy was dressed down in jeans and a tee-shirt. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness of the cave Roy slipped off his sunglasses and took in the copious amounts of blueprints and building specifications of what looked like a warehouse. On some of the screens there were maps of what must have been the areas around the building. He could recognize it as being one of the places out by the docks but other than that it really could have been any of them. He smirked a little as he took a mental head count. Then it occurred to him that it was Tuesday, and they were in the middle of October. "Hey, last time I checked...weren't, like, all of you enrolled in school? What are you doing here?" His eyebrow quirked as Kaldur stepped forward and took the conversation into his hands.

"Typically they would be, but the League has something that they need us to look into for them. They made a special case just for this mission." Kaldur hesitated and Roy knew that he wasn't going to tell him the details of the mission. Roy didn't think it was because Kaldur didn't want to though it seemed more like he was sworn to secrecy.

Roy shrugged as he cast his eyes over at the rest of the team that whispered in hushed voices. He could assume they were still setting their plans for the mission and frankly it wasn't any of Roy's business since he left the team. Or hey, they could be talking trash about him because he had left the team because they were getting a little too immature for him but he would assume they were planning for their safety. His eyes met with Kaldur's and he handed him a card with an address. "I just wanted to drop this by, I don't much care for babysitting but I wanted you to know where there was a safe place if anything happens."

He was probably over reacting but the uneasy feeling had been nagging Roy for a while now and he wanted to give Kaldur a get out of jail free card so to speak. Things were getting more and more dangerous for the mini-league as each day passed and he had a bad feeling about what the League was having their protégés doing. Roy looked over Kaldur's shoulder at Robin and Wally. They had been friends once and he couldn't blame them for being on the team. They were young and no matter who their mentor was they didn't have the experience to go off on their own like Roy had but he almost wished they would just to avoid what dangers the League was just seemingly let them walk into.

"You look like you have a lot on your mind." Kaldur's voice interrupted Roy's thoughts causing him to snap back to reality. Roy wasn't sure what to do with this uneasy feeling he was having. He thought about talking to the young Atlantean about the nagging feeling but he was certain that Kaldur would just say it was nothing. Sometimes Kaldur's greatest strength was his greatest weakness and undoubtedly it was Kaldur's faith in his team that was his greatest strength. His trust in the League was unwavering and Roy could see the problems that could cause.

"I'm alright, its nothing I can't handle." Roy stepped around Kaldur and took a closer looks at the plans of the building. "Where is this?" Sure he was curious but Roy didn't want all the details. If he had them he might do something as stupid as follow them to the warehouse and make sure that they took care of the League's dirty business without getting hurt. Roy didn't want the mini-League to think he was getting weak. Roy glanced over at the location map as Superboy and Artemis gave him a stiff look. He supposed his replacement was still mad about what he said, not that he cared. As for Superboy? Well he always looked like he had a stick up his-

"We are supposed to go to the docks. There were some suspicious activities reported there recently. It's not supposed to be anything we can't handle." Kaldur's voice was even and cool as it always was but Roy could hear the slight insecurity, but only cause he was looking for it. Roy trusted Kaldur but he didn't trust the rest of the team, the security was loose enough for Red Tornado to go rogue without anyone noticing. Roy just sighed as he ran his hand through his hair.

"It's not supposed to." Roy repeated back slowly as if turning it over in his head, "Now why doesn't that make me feel better?" His voice was even as he looked at the mismatched bunch and back to Kaldur, "Alright, fine, I'll shut it now." He waved his hands in front of his as a surrender he didn't want to fuss with the kids anymore. He slipped his sunglasses back on and headed for the door. It took him a split moment for Roy to notice that Kaldur was following him. Roy stopped and turned around taking into focus that they were now far enough away to avoid the others listening in.

"Do you doubt our ability as a team?" Roy couldn't tell if he heard agitation or hurt in Kaldur's voice but either was pretty scary to hear. Roy leaned back a little in surprise as he shook his head. His team wasn't the most reliable. They had some really huge faults and in the long run he was fairly certain that it would fall apart and it really wouldn't take that long. There were already pretty strong warning signs. The biggest was that Kaldur's faith was not reciprocated among the rest of the team.

"Team? Have you looked around? Kaldur, you don't have a team, you have a group of rebellious kids who have super powers." Roy knew the disbelief was splayed out on his face and the others could probably read him like an open book. Now that he thought about it the green one was probably reading his thoughts. "Look, I'm not going to point out everything they've done wrong but I'm just going to say that you may be their leader but they haven't kept their end of this little bargain." His voice was low. He wasn't really that angry, Roy just wanted to get his point across to Kaldur.

Kaldur shook his head a little and looked at the ground as if in shame, "That might be true but we haven't been a team for very long. You must give these things time Roy." Kaldur's lips formed a small smile, "We all know that you aren't the most patient of men, in fact I believe it's the reason you aren't on our team if I remember correctly." Kaldur had made a joke of the entire situation because Roy knew that if Kaldur admitted that his "team" was just a rag tag group that had more responsibilities and less risk as sidekicks than as the team they were now, that Kaldur would lose his trust in them and he would begin to realize that they had gone against his word too many times for him to truly lead them

He looked back at them and held out his hand to Roy. "Thank you for coming by to see me, and for giving me the address. If I ever need to call in that favor you owe me from Taipei, I'll be sure to show up on your doorstep my friend." Kaldur's eyes lit up a little and Roy just noticed how tired and spent Kaldur looked. It hit him that since their trip to the Bialyan Dessert that Kaldur probably hadn't gotten much rest and Roy felt almost felt guilty about coming here and getting on Kaldur's case about the insubordination and just flat out lack of care for their leader and ally's life.

Roy took his hand and shook it. "Even if you don't need to call in on that favor, if you ever just need a place to get away, that isn't Atlantis of course." That apparently had caught Kaldur's attention because he nodded as if seriously contemplating the idea of coming over and crashing for a while. Roy had heard Aquaman once talk about a girl that Kaldur liked back in Atlantis and Roy had to wonder why he spent so much time up here on the surface. Things had probably gone south but all he could do was speculate and that was no good, "I want to wish you good luck today."

Kaldur nodded his appreciation as Roy withdrew his hand and waved at the rest of the team. He certainly didn't trust them but that didn't mean that they were bad kids. He hoped nothing bad would happen to them tonight because the league was putting them in just as much danger. The only difference between them and Kaldur was that Kaldur would get the blame for whatever went wrong when it did. It really was a when and not an if when it came to playing with the sheer explosives that the Justice League was making these kids handle.

Roy didn't have time to babysit though, and he wasn't about to clean up the mess his mentors were about to make but frankly Kaldur shouldn't have had to either. Roy just wished he would see that his trust was not a two way street. The kids didn't really believe in him to be their leader , they just wanted someone they could push over and when it got down to it Kaldur wasn't a push over and he was going to stand up to his team. Roy just had to wait and he hated it when Kal was right.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own it.

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><p><strong>Missteps <strong>by RainySpade

**Chapter Two**

Tonight, Kaldur hated waiting. Typically he wouldn't mind waiting to ambush the enemy and take them out without incident but something just seemed wrong. He wasn't sure if it was the fact that Roy had come to him and told him that he didn't feel easy about the assignment that was planting the nagging feeling or if it was the fact that from the beginning something seemed off. No matter how hard they looked they hadn't been able to find what was being stored in the warehouse which meant they didn't know who could be scoping out the place or even causing the disturbances that had been reported in the area.

According to the records there had been everything from small explosions to suspicious characters seen in the area. According to property records the warehouse was owned by a Company that didn't exist. Said company was owned by a man who died a decade ago. So there were no leads in any direction. Robin had even tried to find security cameras that could have caught someone entering the building recently. Once again they had hit another brick wall and Kaldur could tell his team was getting frustrated with the constant road blocks. Frankly he was too; it was finally time to get their hands dirty.

At least that had been his thought before Roy dropped in for an unexpected visit. Not only an unexpected visit but to hand him and unexpected favor as well. Although it had just been a small scrap of paper with an address and some messily scrawled vague directions, the meaning behind it spoke volumes for Roy. He honestly trusted Kaldur enough to tell him where his safe house was and let him know that if he needed it, Kaldur could go there for some time off.

Kaldur honestly hadn't had a lot of rest or just some time to himself without having to do the essentials, missions or training. Honestly he was starting to feel it, the weary feeling you get when you go days on end with minimal sleep and just enough downtime to take a shower and eat as much as you could. Wally always had an unfair advantage on that last one though. But Kaldur was getting tired and it was the point where he couldn't really tell if it was affecting his job as leader or not but the team didn't seem to notice anything different, otherwise he was sure that they would have said something.

Waiting really was the worst. He glanced around the crates on the dock, making sure he could see that everyone was in their positions. Kaldur wasn't sure if this was just going to be a patrol or if there would actually be a battle tonight. It was probably too much to hope that their shady friends would show up as if on cue tonight but he also suspected that the League wouldn't send them all out here if they were certain that it was only going to be a small issue. He was also sure that they wouldn't have sent them out here if it wasn't something that they could easily take care of, no matter what Roy thought.

Kaldur did have to admit that the archer had more experience both with the league and with walking into danger but that didn't mean that Roy would always know better. Voices burst through the silence of the docks as Kaldur had to focus his attention to the task at hand. Now was not the time to second guess his team and the league. The voices were hushed as Kaldur saw Artemis give the signal that she had them in view. M'gann connected their thoughts and Artemis informed the group that there were two men who had entered the building. One seemed to be dressed normally the other however was in some sort of strange get up that kind of reminded her of Darth Vader.

Kaldur froze a little and focused more on trying to see if his suspicions were correct. He was hoping he was wrong but the red glow from the open door of the warehouse just crushed any hope he had left for this mission being easy. It had been Black Manta who had been having his men patrol the docks. Kaldur now felt comfortable saying what it that was hidden in the warehouse was the small portion of that sea star that Manta had blown up in an effort to destroy the creature. Prince Orm had said that the piece had already been trying to regenerate after the accident and he had given it to King Orin to take and keep safe in the surface world.

Manta was the last person Kaldur had expected to be their enemy especially on land. What was it about this sea star that he craved so much and more importantly how had he found out the star was still alive? There were too many questions and too few answers, but Kaldur didn't plan on just sitting here and waiting for the answers to come to him. Robin sat across from him at the wait of his command and Kaldur continued to wait for a sign, for a weak spot. He didn't want for them to just run into an unsecured warehouse.

Kaldur couldn't know how large the sea star was by now, he couldn't imagine it being as big as it had been down in Poseidonis but he couldn't be sure. Kaldur watched as Black Manta came closer to the door and then he raised his hand, the signal to go. Robin moved first, if he hadn't known better Kaldur would have said that Robin rivaled Wally in his speed as he climbed the crates and made his way towards the door. Superboy was at Robin's six at Artemis took aim behind the cover of the crates. M'gann created a small distraction somewhere in the warehouse to hopefully draw the attention of the men away from the approaching attack. Kaldur drew his water bearers as he saw a blur of black go speeding past him, Wally's job was to make sure that there were no more men hanging around to carry out a counter-ambush.

The explosion was bigger than he expected, apparently bigger than M'gann was expecting as well, as she apologized mentally. Kaldur slid into the warehouse just after Superboy and Robin. There was smoke building up around them causing a flood of coughs coming from their direction. Somewhere along in the fray Kaldur had lost sight of Black Manta until-

WHAM! Pain struck through Kal's back like lightning. White stars twinkled on the backs of his eye lids as he dropped to his knees. Kaldur looked over at where Artemis should have been to only find her knocked out laying on the ground, her bow kicked far enough away that she couldn't reach it. Wally hadn't come back yet either, which meant that he was probably incapacitated too. This had all been a set up then but it wasn't over before it had even started. Kaldur could hear laughter erupting from Manta's helmet as he leaned down.

"The league sent kids to fight me? I'm disappointed." He nudged Kal's side with his boot, "You just can't seem to impress me Kaldur'ahm, and I blame that king of yours, the one who pretends that you are his equal."

Kaldur supposed he was the only one that had noticed that the coughing had stopped and that the smoke was clearing a little. Kaldur reached out for his water bearer and grabbed it as he heard Superboy's shout. The teen came crashing down on the very spot Black Manta had been only a few moments ago. As Superboy looked up and around searching he was hit with twin laser beams to the chest causing him to crash back into the far wall of the metal building. M'gann, concerned for Superboy's safety, that was shot next but one of the three Manta-men that soon made themselves visible. It was now down to him and Robin and Kaldur liked the odds less and less. Two against four was difficult but not impossible but what worried Kaldur was that he hadn't seen the Boy Wonder since he was in front of Superboy.

Robin was most likely scoping out the scene from the rafters, at least that's what Kaldur hoped until he heard the soft grunt of pain. Not letting it distract him, he activated his weapons to form a whip. He quickly snapped it around Black Manta's neck, Kal's eel tattoos continued to glow threateningly as he took in the damage to his team. Roy had been right. They shouldn't have come here tonight and certainly not as unprepared as they were. His gaze held steady on Manta. "Leave now and leave my team alone and I won't short circuit your body suit." His voice was calm but cold and threatening.

The laugh was maniacal and it caused Kaldur's blood to run cold. "You would do that to your own father? Maybe there is something in there I can be proud of." He laughed again and Kaldur went into shock which was his mistake because Manta wasted no time firing a small missile in Aqualad's direction, knocking him down into the concrete, making a shallow impression around him as if he impacted the earth with as much force as a meteor.

Kaldur groaned as his blurred eyes watched Black Manta move to one of the crates in the room and open it to find a starfish six times the size Kaldur was used to. A soft 'no' dropped from Kal's lips as he raised an arm up to try and stop him. Black Manta handed the sea star to one of the Hench men before making his way over to Kal, "Nice try, better luck next time, son." With his final words Manta brought his foot down hard on Kaldur's arm. A sickening snap filled the air as the overwhelming discomfort of bones in improper places flowed up his arm, distracting Kaldur just long enough to miss Black Manta leaving the warehouse.

Kaldur struggled and with his good arm he reached down and pressed his fingers to his comm link, activating it. "Aqualad to the Watch Tower." His voice was breathing as he willed the pain in his arm and chest away, "Assistance is needed. We have failed our mission." Kaldur hated those words and they left a bad taste in his mouth.

Batman's voice came back over, "Aqualad, what's the situation?" Out of all the people he wanted to talk to about his failures as a leader Batman was second to last followed only by King Orin. Kaldur listened around him seeing if he could heat any of the other team members moving. No such sound was heard.

"My arm is broken, and the rest of the team is incapacitated. Black Manta was-" Kaldur cut himself off. Manta had said that he was his father, but that couldn't be right. His father was dead, at least that had been what his mother said the one time he had asked about his father. Ever since then Kaldur had adopted Orin as his father figure. What he had been told couldn't have been true. "Black Manta was responsible. He took the Sea Star that we had been hiding here."

"We will be out there shortly." Batman sounded crosser than usually and it was probably because of Kal's lack of information about Robin. Kaldur couldn't blame Batman, he was sure that the other mentors were just as worried. Kaldur let his eyes slip closed with the knowledge that there was help on the way. Help and Answers.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice.

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><p><strong>Missteps <strong>by RainySpade

**Chapter Three**

Shame washed over Kaldur as he opened his eyes to find Black Canary sitting over him running her hands over his good arm and both his legs, it was impersonal but careful as she checked him for anywhere else that could have been broken. Kaldur felt useless and as leader that was less than acceptable. "His left arm is broken; actually a better term would be shattered. It's pretty messed up." Kaldur heard Batman grunt his response from the far corner where he himself was crouched over someone. He assumed it was Robin who groaned softly.

"Man, my head is killing me." Wally's familiar voice washed through the warehouse as he came in at an unusually slow pace for him. Artemis limped in with him, her arm draped around his neck as he helped her inside with the others. The Flash was behind them making sure that they were alright. Kaldur looked over in the direction that he had last seen Connor and M'gann. She was up and moving around, she was holding Connor's head and brushing back his hair as Green Arrow dabbed lightly at the thin trail of blood that was dripping from his hairline.

Kaldur let his eyes slip shut. As far as he could tell he was the worst looking among the bunch. "How are you feeling?" Dinah's voice was calming to his ears and he sighed and nodded slowly, carefully. He wasn't feeling at his best and he knew that he certainly didn't look it. Kaldur hadn't looked over at his arm yet but if it looked as bad as it felt, it probably looked like a mangled pile of bones in a sack of skin. Even the thought made him wince a little.

"Yeah, you are probably going to be out of commission for a while Kaldur." Dinah reached into her medicine bag that sat on her right. She placed a syringe in the shotgun that the league carried in their emergency bags. She slipped it into his vein and pulled the trigger that released the pain killer into his system. Dinah got up and moved to his left side as she put the gun back in and pulled out a splint and with as little movement as possible slipped it under his arm. Kaldur bit his lip but was unable to hide his sharp intake of breath at the jolt of pain that ran up his spine.

"What the hell happened here?" That voice. Kaldur jerked his head over towards the entrance to find both the person he wanted to see who would probably say 'I told you so'. Roy was in the door way completely in uniform, his expression was just short of furious as he took in the complete devastation around the room. As soon as his eyes landed on Kaldur it didn't take him long to get to his friends side. "You messed yourself up pretty well didn't you?" Roy's voice was careful as he tried to hide the concern in his voice.

Kaldur gave him an unamused look, as he glanced at Dinah then back to Roy. He didn't want to say anything in front of her yet. Black Canary slid another syringe in the gun and injected Kaldur, he was thankful as he felt the numbing medication spread down his arm and she moved to get a cot. "You were right. This wasn't something that should have happened." His voice was soft but tense. Kaldur really didn't want to talk about everything at the moment but he needed to tell Roy at least one thing. "I could have stopped him, but I...I hesitated."

Puzzlement now mixed with the anger on Roy's face as Dinah came back up to them, "Red? Can you help me put Kaldur on this? We need him to get him into the Bioship for their ride home." Kaldur's face scrunched up with confusion as he looked up at the female mentor. M'gann looked ok but he didn't understand why the league didn't take him. As they lifted him up off the ground another question hit him. What was Red Arrow doing here?

Kaldur looked up at the red head but before he could ask Green Arrow beat Kaldur to the question. "Red Arrow, why are you here? I thought you weren't a sidekick anymore." Ollie's voice was a mixture of disappointment and of the corner of his eye. Dinah also glanced up at Roy with a guarded look. Ollie had been more than a little hurt when Roy had went solo and it had probably been Dinah that had helped him get over it. With one simple question Kaldur felt as though he was intruding on a private moment, the uneasiness in the room told Kaldur he wasn't the only one.

Red Arrow didn't stop moving as he helped Black Canary carry Kaldur outside and onto the Bioship which was actually going to be piloted by Martian Manhunter, he realized as the green man sat in the pilot's chair. The alien nodded sympathetically in Kaldur's direction as Red Arrow crouched back down next to him after setting him down. "What are you doing here?" Kaldur's voice was non-judgmental as Ollie's hadn't, which seemed to make Roy more inclined to answer.

Getting the hint Black Canary frowned as she walked out, only once he was sure that she was gone Roy spoke up. "I was in town for a social call, I just happened to add this little stop to my patrol tonight, but I guess I missed all the action." Red was trying to joke with him to avoid the next barrage of questions that was sure to come. Kaldur didn't ask him anything, instead he closed his eyes. Roy figured that now that he was safe, Kaldur's adrenaline had stopped rushing through his veins and had finally crashed. As he stood back up though He heard Kaldur whisper a quiet 'thank you' and Roy couldn't help but smile a little. This was going to be a long night.

The lights were unbearably bright where ever he was. Kaldur did his best to block out the lights but his left arm was too heavy to move. Instantly he was alarmed and he squirmed around trying to remember what happened. His memory was foggy and then with a rush it hit him. Black Manta. The sea star. The warehouse. The team. He shook his head as he did his best to lean up and all of a sudden there was a hand behind his back helping him. In the next moment the light dimmed a little and Kaldur relaxed as he took in his surroundings. To his right stood his king and to his left was Black Canary who as placing a sling under a cast he now had covering his left arm. The plaster piece wrapped around his hand to keep his wrist from moving and ran all the way up past his bent elbow, stopping midway to his shoulder and he frowned.

"I'm glad to see you are awake Kaldur'ahm." Orin's hand on his back consoled him slightly as Canary moved to drape the other part of the sling around his neck. Kaldur forced a smile in his mentor's direction. The weight on his arm was unbearable but the pain had all but disappeared. Black Canary announced that she was done to no one in particular before leaving the room with a soft click of the door. Kaldur nodded a little in acknowledgement and Orin spoke again, "It doesn't look good, it was broken in four places. We don't want to rush the healing process and risk it healing wrong. I'm sorry but until this heals we have decided that Captain Marvel would be a fair leader for the group, at least until you are well enough to go back out in the field."

His world was crashing around him already and Kaldur didn't know what to do. He swallowed, his mouth feeling uncomfortably dry as he took in the information. He looked up at his longtime mentor and friend, "How are the others? Is everyone ok? Did we catch Black Manta?" The one thing he knew was that his wrongs needed to be righted, his arm would heal but if anyone else had been hurt, his mistakes as leader were unforgivable.

The older Atlantean held up his hand and nodded, "Don't worry Kaldur'ahm. Everyone else only had bumps and bruises for the most part. As for Black Manta the League is doing their best to find him and the sea star, but that is nothing you have to worry about right now." Orin could sense that there was something else on Kaldur's mind as he looked over his protégé. He looked distracted and torn over something so Orin grabbed a chair and sat down next to the hospital bed. "Kaldur, if there is something bothering you, wouldn't it be best for you to talk about it?"

Kaldur nodded absentmindedly but when Kaldur's pale green eyes met his, Orin knew that he wouldn't like what Kaldur was about to say. "I had Black Manta in a position where I couldn't have stopped him but he said something than made me hesitate, Annex." Orin could hear the slight shaking in Kaldur's voice and he knew what was coming. "Black Manta... He said that, well, that he was my father. I know it can't be true bu-"

"It is." Orin cut in. He had kept it secret for way to long know and the look that reflected in Kaldur's eyes told him that he might have waited too long. "I'm sorry, but your mother entrusted me with the information when you came to study with Mera and the others, and I in turn thought that she should be the one to tell you, but since you have come to be Aqualad, I know think that it is my responsibility to tell you. I'm sorry."

The silence was killing Kaldur. The air around him was too heavy and he didn't want to be here. Panic and insecurity rose within him. His father. Black Manta was his father. His father was the one that shattered his arm. There was a dull pounding that ached in his head and it fell into his hand. It had been a long time since he had felt this distraught. Kaldur needed to do something, to get up and walk around. Why hadn't he been told before? Did they not trust him? Did they think that he couldn't handle it? Well, he wasn't doing a very good job right now. His ears finally took in sound as his body took in sensation. His breathing was heavy and Orin was back by his side. Kaldur covered his panic as he slid his legs over the side of the table to stand up.

"I suppose I am to stay here while I recover?" With the use of his one good arm he pushed himself off the table and onto his feet. Orin shook his head slowly. If he wasn't supposed to stay here where was he supposed to go? Atlantis was his next guess, but with the cast on his arm he couldn't swim so that wasn't really a possibility. That didn't leave many options.

"We decided that you shouldn't stay here because it might be hard on you to know when everyone goes on a mission and you would be stuck here, and you would probably get what they call cabin fever." Kaldur didn't understand. The cave was his home now and without it all he had was Atlantis. He couldn't do this. He couldn't be trying to come to grips with this new information on his own in some strange place that he wasn't comfortable in.

With no interruptions Orin continued, "We were going to have you stay with one of the members of the League but someone surprised us." Kaldur could hear the question in the King's voice, "Red Arrow, Roy Harper, has offered to let you stay with him." Orin wanted to know why and Kaldur smiled a little as relief washed over him, he might actually be okay then. Kaldur could handle Roy's looks and questions. He knew Roy wouldn't treat him like an invalid and Roy would give him his most honest opinions.

This could work out for the better.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **They aren't mine.

A/N: Sorry, I didn't know how busy I would get. Its late I know but enjoy.

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><p><strong>Missteps <strong>by RainySpade

**Chapter Four **

The entire time over here Roy had been giving Kaldur warnings backed by empty threats and now Kaldur knew why. All those threats no longer seemed empty and Kaldur had to work hard not to smile. It wasn't exactly a pig sty. Kaldur could see the floor and it was in fact clean but on every other surface there was clutter. It wasn't gross, just, Kaldur guessed the term would be, lived in. As he glanced back at Roy he did smile, "I like it. It seems...what is the word? Homey."

Kaldur laughed at the clear suspicion on Roy's face and for the first time Kaldur noticed that his friend was actually embarrassed by the whole situation. Roy honestly cared what Kaldur thought about his living space. Knowing that, Kaldur re-slung his bag over his good shoulder (Kaldur insisted that although his arm was broken he was not an invalid.) and made his way to the couch and carefully sat down in it. The poor piece of furniture looked like it had seen better days, but it seemed to give the room personality and it was comfortable. Since Kaldur figured it would be where he was going to sleep he thought he might as well get used to it.

When Roy had come to get him from the cave in civilian clothes, for some reason it made Kaldur feel better, like this wasn't a ploy to get him away from the cave, just so that he wouldn't worry himself sick about his team out in the field. In Kaldur's opinion the whole idea seemed ridiculous, he wasn't the type to worry, he knew his team was both competent and good at what they did. He had no reason to worry. Well, that's what he told himself, even know Kaldur was itching to get out of his cast and back in the thick of things. This just brought him full circle. What Black Manta had said was true, and Kaldur didn't know how this would affect him. Would it change who he was and what he did? Would it change how the League looked at him? Or the team? Or maybe how Roy treated him? Did everything he had ever done for what Kaldur thought was right trump that his father was an enemy, and that Kaldur could only be cut from the same cloth?

A sharp ringing whistle invaded his ears, "Houston to Kal, are you up there? Do we have a clear reading in space cadet Kal?" Kaldur laughed and shook his head, he was spacing out, he hadn't even heard anything Roy had said before that moment. Kaldur met Roy's eyes, waiting for him to repeat whatever he had said before when Kaldur had been lost in his thoughts. "I said," Roy smiled, "Do you wanna see your room or do you want to eat before putting your stuff up?" Good, Roy knew that Kaldur wasn't going to be having any "helping" going on. Kaldur could handle himself. He wasn't in a wheelchair. His arm was just in a sling.

Kaldur was a little surprised that he got his own room. He wanted to see it but right now he couldn't bring himself to get up off the couch. Kaldur still hadn't been able to wrap his mind around the fact that Black Manta was both out there with the sea star and his father. He had stayed up all night, unable to get his brain to slow down enough to sleep, trying to grasp the fact that someone who should have at least cared about him was the one to hurt him. King Orin had told him not to bottle his feelings, but Kaldur wasn't completely familiar with the concept. It had been hard, the wave after wave of emotion he had felt over the last few hours was both unusual and unsettling and he hoped that it wasn't going to become something normal in his life.

As he finally jerked free from his thoughts he noticed Roy's attention was completely focused on him, the older teen's look was unreadable. Kaldur knew that the league had put him here, not because he needed to be away from the commotion of the cave, but because if he was going to talk to anyone about what he was feeling or about his new found lineage, Kaldur was going to want to talk to Roy about them. The former sidekick seemed to know a lot about the world and understand things on a much higher maturity level then the rest of the team. It was a lot to take though and Kaldur wasn't about to force such a weight of information on Roy's shoulders, at least not until he was ready to answer questions.

"Dinner would be nice." Kaldur answered as he got up, pretending that there hadn't been an extended moment of silence. Now that he thought about it, he wondered how much Roy had been told before or after he had offered to allow Kaldur into his flat. Kal's ale green eyes flickered over to Roy who had picked up the phonebook and walked back into the living room. "Did they tell you anything about what happened?"

Roy looked up from the Chinese menu options and his brow creased. "Did who tell me about what? If you mean that you broke your arm, I hate to break it to you but it isn't hard to figure out. That cast there is a huge give away. It does go on for miles. Don't forget, I also saw it before I got wrapped up in that gunk. It was broken so badly I'm amazed they put it back together." He smirked in a teasing fashion, "But if you mean who did this and how it happened? No."

Kaldur nodded and remained silent as he looked down at the plaster that was covered in black gauze. He was sure that Roy has expected an explanation after that but Kaldur didn't feel up to talking about it just yet, "Are you ordering take-out?"

Roy nodded and passed the phone book over so Kaldur could look through it and figure out what he wanted. They ordered their food and sat in companionable silence. At some point after the food arrived, Roy turned on the TV to some sort of cartoon about a government agent who utterly failed at his job. The show was pretty vulgar but Kaldur couldn't help but smile a little at some of the things.

Pretty soon the show was over and Roy picked up the plates on the coffee table and took them to the sink and started washing up. Kaldur turned off the TV and sat back, relaxing into the couch his eyes slipping closed. "Roy, do you think that someone's parents affect them so much that they have no choice but to follow in their footsteps?" His voice was a quiet betrayal. Kaldur had meant to sound both stronger and indifferent but he sounded nervous and, if Roy knew him as well as he thought he did, Kaldur sounded scared.

The water shut off behind him and Kal turned to look at the red head. "No, I don't think they do. I think the most influential people you have as a child is the person that raises you. If you don't know any better, then who's to say that they aren't your parent?" It made sense to Kaldur but he couldn't invest in that idea in case Roy was wrong.

"You sound as though you have thought about this yourself." The Atlantean's voice remained quiet but it didn't waver this time and felt some relief from it. Roy never talked much about the time before he became involved with Ollie but Kaldur suspected that Roy had been in a similar situation. "Can I ask? I mean, I know you and Ollie weren't always partners. What did you do before you became Speedy?"

It was an extremely personal question but Kaldur was curious and could really use both the distraction and some support. Roy seemed to hesitate for a split second and he started to fill the empty space with his calming tone, "I was too young to remember but my dad died in a forest fire. A man he had known decided to take me in and raise me. He was a Navajo Indian called Brave Bow." The tone Roy had taken was one of high regard and appreciation. "Brave Bow took my sorry ass in and raised me, and when I showed a gift for archery he taught me everything he could." Roy ran a hand through his hair, his blue eyes were aimed at the sink but the dishes he was washing were long forgotten. As Kal was just starting to wonder if he honestly shouldn't have barged into Roy's business the read head seemed to snap out of whatever memory he had fallen into.

"Alright, story time is over. I wanna know who broke your arm." Roy dried his hands off on the dish rag that sat on the edge of the sink. He stopped by the fridge on the way back picking up a bottle of water for each of them and setting it down in front of Kaldur. The younger Atlantean looked at the bottle, not wanting to answer. He was being put on the spot, normally he didn't mind but this seemed to much as he finally picked up the water and opened it. Taking a sip he relished the feeling of the water in his system. It was a small comfort that Roy must have known about.

"It was…Black Manta. I am unsure if you have ever faced him before. It is rare for him to get away from the sea but two nights ago he did because he had found something I had taken from him before." Roy was never the best at hiding his emotions. Kaldur had always been able to read him like an open book and on occasions like this he was glad that Roy had never been able to mask his feelings from him. Kaldur could silently steel himself to anything his good friend would ask.

"So what was it that you took from him? And, well you know I don't mean this in a mean way, but why did he just break your arm? He could have done something way more serious right?" Roy was sharp tonight. He was asking the right questions and Kaldur wasn't mentally prepared for them. Either Roy hadn't seen the look that should have passed over Kaldur's face or the younger of the two had just managed to cover his discomfort without meaning to.

"I am not sure to be honest. Nor do I care to think on it at this time. I am just thankful to come out of the battle relatively unharmed physically. I know my arm will heal with time and I will be able to return to the team." There it was. That look that told Kaldur that Roy had caught what he said. Kaldur had distinguished that he was unfocused. The mental scars the he carried were much more straining than the fact that he had done something that most surface children had already achieved before their teen years.

Roy grinned though and got up, moving from the chair to the couch next to Kaldur. "Look man, everything is gonna be ok." Roy rubbed the back of his neck as he looked like he was thinking. "Dinah once told me that things sometimes just have to run their course before they can seem even a little better. But I'm not good at this mushy stuff." Kaldur's water bottle sat open on the coffee table and he lifted some of the water and made a small orb of it, something the size of a large marble, his tattoos glowing faintly, a giveaway that he was using his Atlantean Sorcery.

Roy watched in wonder. Sure he had seen Kaldur use his hydrokinetic powers before but it had always been either in training or a life and death situation but here in his living room? The archer could tell that having the water under his power, bending it to his will gave Kaldur some reassurance that the entire world hadn't turned upside down. Roy was so lost in what had been going on that he had failed to notice the small smirk on his friends face. The orb of water ended up hitting him in the face as the younger boy got up.

"You are right my friend. You should not try to reassure me with the, mushy stuff, as you put it." Kaldur grabbed his bag and made it way down the hallway to look for his room leaving Roy to just sit there and wipe the water from his face.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** Nope. Not mine.

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><p><strong>Missteps <strong>by RainySpade

**Chapter Five**

The days passed in a jumbled mass of easy silence for Kaldur. Roy would go out on patrol every night but Thursdays and the archer would kind of just crash into his bed when the night was over. The cast on his arm was easier to support as the days went on but his thoughts constantly plagued him. He was happy that Roy hadn't been home within the first few days of Kaldur's stay. He had woken up in the middle of the night frequently, a chill running through his spine as the image burned into his brain. Every time it happened the same way. He would be taken back to the warehouse and after crushing his arm Black Manta would take off his Helmet and at first he wouldn't recognize the face but then everything would fall into place Black Manta's face was Kaldur's own.

It was this realization that always snapped him back to reality. Too many nights Kaldur was already awake when Roy would walk in the door, his quiver half full and the Atlantean nursing a cup of warm tea. By the looks he was given he could tell that Roy was interested in why his current roommate was up at four in the morning but Kaldur was thankful he never asked. Instead Roy would usually remove the mask and slip his quiver over his shoulder before disappearing down the hall only to come back a few minutes later in a t-shirt and sweat pants. He would take a seat next to Kaldur and then begin to talk about his patrol and on occasion there would be a bruise or a scrape that he would explain how he got. It was never anything heavy, not at least since that first day Kaldur had come to stay here with Roy.

Kaldur was allowing himself to wallow. There was a fine line between putting an order to your thoughts and then just wallowing because the answers wouldn't come to him like they usually did. There wasn't a real answer to any of his questions and Kaldur honestly hated the waves of confusion that had started crashing into him. As soon as he thought he had come to terms with the fact that Black Manta was his father a thousand more doubts crashed into him. Two weeks he had spent here and it had taken him this long to realize what his mentor had meant when he had said not to bottle. Kaldur felt as if he would explode if he didn't talk and explain himself soon. Roy had been extremely patient which just made Kaldur return to the idea that someone had already let the archer in on his little secret.

This was how he ended up in his usual place at Roy's dining room table, the cluttered pushed to the unused side, sipping at a mug or warm tea. There was a key in the lock on the hidden entrance in the corner. In walked Roy as cool and confident as ever. It had always been something that Kaldur had admired about the older boy. He had always been so confident, like he had always been comfortable in his own skin. Kaldur, for lack of a better term always felt like a fish out of water no matter where he went and what he did. Roy looked him over slowly and seeming tonight was the night that Kaldur decided to spill his secrets Roy changed rather quickly and grabbed a beer from the fridge.

"If you spit it out you'll feel better." It was clearly something Dinah had said to Roy at some point and Kaldur had to work hard not to smile. Roy was doing his best but the gruffness in his voice told Kaldur what the archer was thinking and he remembered what he had said that first night.

"_I'm not good at this mushy stuff."_

He really wasn't but Kaldur didn't need him to be mushy. "Have no fear my friend, I do not need a shoulder to cry on, just…just an ear to hear me out." Already he felt nervous, he looked at the tea in his mug as it sloshed around, he sighed, "What would you do if-" Kaldur stopped and sighed, trying to think of how to word his confession. He had already run the situation in his head it seemed a thousand times but none of them seemed to work now. "What if my parents were not necessarily good people?"

Roy's face contorted in confusion, "Look Kal, just say it. Don't beat around the bush. Just say what you mean. Don't try to be tactical."

"You are right. I guess what I am trying to ask is would you still trust me if my father was an enemy of the Justice League?" Now that it was out in the open Kaldur felt a trickle of fear slide down his spine. Maybe he shouldn't have said anything. He had thought he had been ready but he wasn't. It was too soon.

The silence hung thick around them. Kaldur didn't have the strength to look up and see the expression on Roy's face. He was going to allow himself not to be the fearless leader here in this moment and the Atlantean instead just remained quiet. The clink of Roy's can hitting the table top echoed them and the archer set his hand down next to Kaldur's. It was close enough for Kaldur to feel the heat radiating from him but Roy really wasn't touching him. "Kal," Roy's voice was low but it was so loud in the silence. It was just his name but the tone was one of gentle chastisement. "Your parents don't change who you are or what you have done. It doesn't matter that you are the son of the enemy. If it did, do you honestly think that Aquaman would have let you become his sidekick? Or even the leader of the Junior Justice Squad?"

The red head chuckled a little and ran a hand through his hair, "Jesus Kal, I thought that you had really fucked up. I was worried that you had gotten in trouble with Batman again." He looked up and Kaldur felt inclined to look up and he met Roy's cool blue eyes. There was a flash of humor mixed with pride. "This isn't what's been bugging you since you got here is it? Cause you aren't them. I've know you for a while now and I have a hard time seeing you as being anything other than a good guy. It's actually unnerving how much of a good guy you are." He took another sip of his beer, "Alright so spill. Who is the baddie?"

Kaldur took another drink of his tea and looked down at the nearly empty mug that contained the yellowish liquid of the chamomile tea. Roy didn't seem to have a problem with his roots which just made Kaldur feel even more self-conscious of the situation. Especially considering that Roy was criticizing him for not telling the older boy sooner about his father. Roy seemed to think that this was something small and insignificant, but it was turning Kaldur's world upside down. The flicker of anger rose within him and he just stood up and placed his mug in the sink. "Maybe now is not the right time to discuss this."

Roy looked up at him, knowing that he had done something wrong but he didn't say anything. "Look Kal, honestly, it's not that big of a deal. I know that it seems like it is now but in the end it doesn't change who you are." Kaldur shook his head and nodded at Roy in acknowledgement and headed for his room. He really didn't want to talk about it anymore. Although he had brought it upon himself he wasn't about to let this go any further. He shut the door behind him with a soft click and sat down on the bed before he fell back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling.

Was it really that simple? It didn't seem like it could be. He sighed and wished he could go for a swim. It had been too long since he had been able to just lose himself in the waves. The water helped his mind clear when could emerge himself in his natural element, his head felt clouded right now and with the cast still on his arm he couldn't escape to the harbor. Instead he did the next best thing. After making sure that Roy had gone off to bed and was no longer sitting in the kitchen Kaldur moved and took a plastic trash bag from under the sink and tied it around his arm. The Atlantean frowned. He had thought that surface medicine was better than this but apparently they hadn't advanced as far as he thought they had.

He wished he could go back to that night and had taken Roy's advice and just waited for the League to find out more information about the mission. At the same time Kaldur knew that he would have never done anything of the like. As the leader of the team it was his job to follow the orders that the League gave him. As soon as he had made sure that the cast was sealed off he moved back into his bathroom and filled the bath tub with cool water. He hoped the sound of running water wasn't going to disturb his house mate but Kaldur needed this. As soon as the tub was filled to a good level he let himself slip inside the water. The liquid welcomed him like an old friend as he shut his eyes and let the water flow through his gills. It wasn't the same but it would have to do.

It worked though. Kaldur's headache was slipping away and he was finally able to focus. Roy wasn't trying to be insensitive. He was just handling it the way that he knew how. Roy had never had a stable father figure and in turn Kaldur had never had a father. The difference was that Roy had Dinah and Ollie, and Brave Bow before that. All Kaldur had ever had was King Orin, who wasn't even really trying to be a father figure, Kaldur just thought of him as one.

His mind drifted to his team. Superboy was the first to come to mind. Superboy was raw, he was only a few months old and was still emotionally unstable but (not that he had a right to criticize, but it was certainly his business because that raw emotion came with them on the missions) Kaldur had a feeling that if Superman would just spend some time with his clone, The younger could better handle his purpose and better understand himself. Wally had the best and most concrete family unit. Honestly if he ever had any questions he didn't just have the current Flash to ask, but there had also been a Flash before him. The generations of the West-Allen family had been with the league. M'gann never really talked about her family. Kaldur knew that she had several sisters back on Mars but she also had her uncle J'onn if she needed anything which was close enough. Robin had Batman, whom Kaldur was a better father figure than he let on. Considering how harsh he had been on just him, he gave what the surface called tough-love. He didn't know much about Artemis' family life though, what he did know though is that she went home every night although she like everyone else had a room at the Cave.

His gills flared as he took more water in and they settled. Why hadn't he really been told about his past? If it really didn't change who he was why had King Orin kept it from him? Kaldur opened his eyes and watched as the shallow surface of the water distorted the light that flowed. Maybe it was because of just that. It didn't matter. He frowned and sat up in the tub. The water caressed its way down off his body. The air felt polluted in his lungs but he didn't move to sink back down into the comfort of the water. The surface was as much his home as the sea now and although it felt heavy in his body, he realized it was just as much as a comfort. He looked down into the water as it rippled around him. For now, he needed to learn to live with who he was again. Maybe by the end Roy would be right, that Kaldur hadn't changed at all, but he needed to find that out for himself. He pulled the plug from the bath tub and watched as the water slipped down the drain. He dried himself off quickly, not wanting to get Roy's carpet wet and slipped back into his room where for the first time he slept peacefully.


End file.
